Bent
by mav32
Summary: It shouldn't have taken something like this for Jack to realize that if he thought of Arcee as his sister, that as good as made Bumblebee his brother.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yay! Another Transformers fic! They're just too fun. I was going to make this a two-shot at most, but we'll see...

* * *

><p>"I'm just saying. How is that breaking rules?" Jack had anticipated his teenage years would be full of arguing with his mother over school, friends, and <em>hopefully<em> girls. He also expected to have a vehicle which would allow him an escape, or at least a method of stalling said arguments while he drove around, relishing in his temporary independence. What he hadn't expected was that his vehicle would turn out to be another mom- or as he thought of her, a big, overprotective sister.

"We're supposed to be covert, Jack." The motorcycle responded in a tone that he was quite sure was identical to his mother's when she was explaining why he had to eat his grandmother's cooking despite its questionable edibility.

"It's not like you're transforming in front of her, Arcee" He was ready to stoop to begging.

"But you are drawing unneeded attention toward me."

"What draws unneeded attention is the fact that I'm a dude, and my bike has pink detailing. That's un_wanted_ attention right there."

"I'm afraid that's not going to be changing anytime soon, Jack." He could hear the smug smile in her voice. "But maybe that's a good reason for you to keep the girl away from me."

"But the point isn't _you_. It's _me._ I don't want her to date you."

"Then what do you need me for?" The motorcycle taunted.

"You want me to be miserable. That's it, isn't it?" Jack said in a dead-pan, glaring at the motorcycle's glowing panel.

"Absolutely. Every day." Arcee replied in the same flat tone, though it betrayed some of her amusement.

"Arcee. Do you copy?" Came an equally monotone voice through the comm-link, this one naturally droning and lacking any sort of underlying happiness whatsoever.

"Yeah, Ratchet, what is it?" Arcee replied. The medic usually only called if backup or reconnaissance was needed, or to yell at someone because yet another tool was found broken.

"What's your location?"

His bored tone was hinting toward reconnaissance, but she asked anyways. "About halfway between the base and the city, why?"

"Bumblebee was on patrol in that area, and he hasn't checked in. His comm has been glitching lately, but Optimus would like you to check it out anyways."

"Sure thing. Send me his coordinates."

The human glanced around at their barren surroundings. "You don't need to drop me off on the side of the road, do you? The walk back is kind of far and-."

"Don't worry, Jack. It doesn't sound like a big deal. You can come." She assured him, adjusting her course to head in direction Ratchet indicated. "Bee abuses that comm so much I'm surprised it doesn't short out more often."

"I didn't really picture Bee as a talker." Jack said, not meaning it as a pun because in reality he'd never understood a word the bot had said, but even with the odd beeps he used to communicate, the scout was usually silent.

"That's because most of what he says is written through the comm. His text logs rival yours."

"Impressive." Arcee had once told Jack he could "watch cartoons at the base with Bumblebee" and the bots often referred to the scout as young, but it was still hard to grasp that despite being thousands of years old, the 16 foot tall Autobot had the maturity level and habits of a human teenager- at least partly. Most teens he knew weren't fighting intergalactic wars, but he could name a couple.

Arcee slowed as she neared the coordinates. The area was pretty clear of the towering mesas and red rocks, but the yellow bot was nowhere in sight. "Huh…" Jack climbed off, allowing Arcee to transform. Even with the added height, she still couldn't see anything.

"What's up?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. I'm not getting any readings… hold on." She activated her comm. "Ratchet, you sure this is right?... Ratchet, you copy?" All she got in reply was a hiss of static. "What the-." She froze as she caught sight of the deep groves and divots in the hard packed dirt around her. "Jack-."

A horrifying screech like scraping metal bounced off the distant rocks and reverberated back to the human and Autobot. Arcee was back in her alt-mode before Jack could say a word. He jumped on without hesitation and the motorcycle sped for the protection of the nearest cliffs not a moment too soon. The next sound to reach them was the roar of a military helicopter as it cleared the top of a mesa far to their right.

"MECH!" Jack cried, holding on for dear life as the motorcycle kicked it into overdrive. The last time he had seen these guys, they had kidnapped his mother, more than willing to watch her die, and were ready to dissect Arcee until she was nothing but spare parts.

"I can't reach anybody!" Arcee cursed. "They're jamming the signal." -the same tactic they had used to cut Arcee off before. She sped through a crack in the weathered rocks, pleased when it opened up into a narrow canyon that led to an opening on the other side. "Jack, you need to get out of their range. Call for backup."

Jack stumbled off the bike and into the stone wall for support as he shakily tried to support himself. "Where are _you_ going?" He cried.

"I have to find Bee. Whatever happens, you keep running. Understand? Go!"

The human tripped over his feet as he hurriedly backed up and sprinted for the opposite end of the canyon. With some difficulty, he pulled his cell-phone from his pocket and flipped it open, waiting for the bars to pop up, indicating a working signal he could use to call for help. He barely noticed as the sound of the helicopter grew fainter, clearly either not interested in or not noticing him.

His feet continued to pound across the cracked earth for an unknown amount of time. The sun beat down on him despite the late afternoon hour. Jack was so concentrated on the screen of his phone that he almost ran straight off the edge of a cliff to a canyon floor hundreds of feet below. He barely managed to stop himself in time, dropping to the ground and sliding a few feet across the rocks in his effort. Feeling the panic that had been pushed back while he ran, Jack looked around frantically for some way across.

The sound of his phone ringing and his subsequent jump of surprise nearly sent him headfirst into the canyon again. It took a few seconds for his racing mind to remember to answer it. His shaking hand could barely find his ear. "Hello?" He was surprised at how casual his voice sounded when he really wanted to shout at whoever was on the other side of the line.

"Jack? Where are you? Ratchet's been trying to-."

"Raf!" Thank heavens, _not_ his mother. "Get Optimus, now!"

"What-."

"Raf!" Jack paced the edge of the canyon, barely able to hear the younger teen over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

"Alright, alright." A few, terrifyingly long seconds passed. "Okay, he's here. You're on speaker."

"Jack, what is it?" The deep baritone of the Prime's voice was surprisingly calming for the terrified teen.

"Optimus! MECH is here. We can't find Bumblebee. Arcee went after him. They're jamming the signal, she told me to run so I could call." Jack explained as quickly as his mouth would allow.

"Ratchet, prepare a ground bridge." Ever calm and in control, Optimus's voice only betrayed his concern with a slight increase in tempo.

The next half a minute was filled with the medic's familiar routine of generating the transport, then an unfamiliar drone cut it short. "Slaggit!"

"What is that?" Jack asked, panic quickly welling up again. "What happened?"

"The ground bridge is also being jammed. I don't know how." Came Ratchet's frustrated reply. "It's never happened before."

"Bulkhead," Came Optimus's voice again. "We must travel there ourselves. It is not far. Jack, stay where you are. We are coming."

The roar of engines cackled through his phone's speakers as the Autobots sped from their base.

"Jack, you still there?" Raf asked. His high-pitched tone gave away the obvious concern he had for his guardian.

"Yeah…" Jack gasped, the rush of adrenaline leaving him shaky and weak. He looked helplessly back in the direction he had come from. It was deceivingly still. "Look, I'll call you back."

"Jack, wait-!" Raf was cut off with the snap of Jack's phone.

"What are you doing, Jack?" He muttered to himself as he started to swiftly walk back towards the spot he had left Arcee. "What can you do to help? Nothing… So why are you still going?" Indeed, he had picked up his pace. "Oh hell…" He started running again.

Arcee had somehow managed to lose the MECH soldiers in the maze of boulders. It helped that she had shot down their helicopter, giving them one less form of transport and surveillance. She was now cautiously making her way towards what seemed like their base of operations- at least it was where most of M.E.C.H.'s men had come from.

The horrible screeching noise had continued intermittently and only her darkest thoughts could imagine what was causing it. Regardless, she knew she had to find the source, because it was more likely than not connected to the missing scout. Primus help those fragging sadists if they had done anything to Bumblebee…

Another shriek pierced her audio receptors, sending an electric chill through her circuits. She was getting closer…Arcee quickly ducked back around a corner. She was close alright. Just on the other side of the rock she was using for cover was a large group of mercenaries, and while she usually had little to fear from earth weapons and wasn't concerned about harming these specific humans, she had to be cautious. They had surprised her before with their knowledge of Cybertronian weaknesses and how to bring them down.

Jack had better have called in that backup…

Arcee was silently preparing herself to charge through MECH's forces when a horrifyingly familiar voice reached her ears.

"Let me _go!_ This is kidnapping, you know."

_Oh, Jack, no_. Arcee closed her optics tightly as the yells became quieter. _I told you to run!_ What was she supposed to do now? She had no way of knowing if he had time to call for help. She knew MECH wasn't above harming their own kind, but if she blasted her way in, they might just kill Jack outright or he could get caught in the cross-fire. She needed another way in…

"You certainly have a knack for showing up at just the wrong time, don't you?" The MECH leader, Silas, said contorting his scarred face into a sinister grin.

"I don't know, by my count, you've always ended up losing." Jack spat back. "How many more times do you think you'll get lucky before the bots, or the government get fed up and crush you?"

"I like our chances." Silas shrugged. "With every encounter, our technology improves and your "bots" become more…human."

Jack looked around the massive cave which had been converted into MECH's temporary base of operations. The tunnels continued back beyond his view, but the constant commotion led him to believe that they were being used as well. His suspicions were confirmed as the metallic screech echoed through the base, forcing him to clamp his hands over his ears.

"Ah, there's one now." Silas said smugly, apparently immune to the ear-splitting noise.

Jack's blood ran cold. "What?"

"We're just continuing our studies. Would you like to see?"

Jack would have punched the smug smile off the MECH commander's ugly face if he hadn't turned and stepped out of reach at that very second. Two guards flanked him, each grabbing an arm, making any other attempts unlikely to succeed either. They led him along behind their leader through the snaking tunnels. After a minute, the passage opened up into another large chamber. In the center, secured to a large metal platform, was Bumblebee.

The yellow bot was struggling weakly against his bonds as a small group of MECH soldiers walked over and around him, periodically using some unrecognizable tool on him. Pitiful whirrs and drones emitted from the scout. They were unmistakable to Jack as moans of pain.

Jack tried to make a break for it, to run to the bot and throw off his captors, but the guards held him fast. "What are you doing to him?" He cried.

"Well he wasn't exactly the robot we wanted, so a little dissecting, a little testing, mostly questioning. The first two were much more worth-while." Silas answered calmly, as though reciting his grocery list.

"You idiot! He can't talk!" Jack nearly ripped his shoulder from his socket in an attempt to get at the MECH commander. Bumblebee wasn't his guardian, but if he thought of Arcee as his sister, that as good as made Bee his brother.

"Well," Silas shrugged. "That explains that. Best to use him as bait then. Get what you can, but leave enough to be useful." He ordered the men around the scout.

"What? No! Bee!"

Bright round optics spotted Jack for the first time. He renewed his struggles in earnest, and this time the metal bonds groaned in protest. Jack watched in horror as one of the men snatched up a long pole, the pronged end crawling with electric tendrils, and stabbed at the yellow scout. The shriek sounded again, and this time Jack knew it for was it was- Bee was screaming.

Both Jack and the scout ceased their struggling, Bumblebee from exhaustion and Jack from shock.

"See what fighting gets you?" Silas said, stepping up to the now motionless bot and slapping a hand onto the yellow armor of his leg. "I suggest you become helpful to us Jack, or I'll have no need for you."

Jack looked helplessly into the scout's dimming optics. "You would torture a kid?" He muttered darkly.

Silas laughed. "I never said _that_."

Jack spun around, fixing his glare on the scarred face. "_He's_ a kid." He spat, pointing at Bumblebee.

Silas scoffed. "Nonsense. It's a robot."

"You can't hear what you're doing to him?" Jack shook his head. What was he doing? Silas didn't care. Silas had been about to kill an innocent human before. Why would he care about a robot- even a sentient one like the scout? "You know what? Fine. You want me to cooperate? Let Bee go."

"You would tell us where to find the other bots?" Silas asked, raising an eyebrow.

Bee squawked his protest, wide optics begging Jack not to do it, but the teen couldn't look at him. "At least I can talk." He said coldly.

The scout cried out again in a pitiful metallic drone, and for a moment Jack thought he could understand the bot clearly. _Don't do it. I'm not worth it. Run._ A MECH soldier reached for the electric prod again. "Bee, stop!" Jack cried. "You don't need that. Don't. Please." He begged the mercenary.

"I don't know." Silas ran a hand over his scarred chin, studying the dark haired teen. "I think I have all I need right here… and I won't have to lay a finger on you to get it."

"What?" Jack realized his mistake too late. He had just handed them the ammunition they needed.

Silas smirked. "You see, I could let the robot go…and then you might cooperate. Or… I could keep it here and make sure you tell me everything I want to know. So what's it gonna be, Jack? Do I have to hurt your friend?"

Jack's breath caught in his chest as his throat closed up. He glanced from Silas to Bee, who was explaining everything he could in one pained look. _I can handle it._

_But I can't_. Jack thought. _I also can't give up the other Autobots…Optimus, Arcee. Where is she?_

As if on cue, an explosion from outside shook the rock foundation, causing the humans to stagger to remain upright. Jack took his opening and ran for the soldiers and the yellow bot they guarded. He snatched up the electric prod and waved it in front of him, warding off the men. The responded by raising their weapons.

"Now, Jack." Silas chided. "You really don't want to be doing this." For once, his voice wavered slightly as he threw a nervous look over his shoulder toward the cave entrance where the explosions continued.

However, it was the female voice echoing through the stone chamber that really worried him. "No, Silas, I don't think you want to be doing _this_."

* * *

><p>AN: I might be a little notorious for cliffhangers... oops. Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks so much for the great reviews! I wasn't sure where I was going with this...but it turned into what we have below. Not what I was planning, but whatever!

* * *

><p>"No, Silas, I don't think you want to be doing <em>this<em>."

Jack nearly dropped the stick as he whirled around to see Arcee approaching them from the back of the room, weapons online and ready to fire. Her blue optics blazed as she glared down at the MECH commander. Some of his men were already tripping over themselves to back away from the navy bot, a few even escaping back into the tunnels.

"Hold on, Arcee," Silas explained, struggling to keep his cool. "I have more men than you, and you wouldn't want your human friend getting hurt, would you?"

"Here's the thing. My friends are bigger, and _you_ really don't want my human friend getting hurt, or I'll rip you to pieces."

Silas looked like he might actually challenge the femme on that, but one of his men flying past him to land in an unconscious heap stopped him in his tracks. The battle sounds were right outside now. More men made for the side chambers, despite their commander's orders to stand their ground.

"The numbers just keep getting more and more even, Silas." Arcee taunted. "I would decide now."

"Sir," Silas's Lieutenant offered hesitantly. "I suggest we retreat."

Silas glared at the man, but with one final look at the blue bot, he swiftly followed the Lt. out of sight.

Not a minute later, Optimus charged into the room with Bulkhead not far behind.

"Is everyone alright?" Optimus demanded, scanning the room for any stragglers who might cause trouble.

Jack realized he was still holding the prod and tossed it away before turning to check on Bee. The scout's optics were dark now as he lay still.

"Bee?" Arcee knelt over the bot, gently shaking one of his shoulders. She hadn't been able to get a good look at him until now, and it was probably good that she hadn't, or Silas would have been in pieces anyways. Scorch marks marred the normally bright yellow armor, and blue energon leaked from his vulnerable joints, joining together in glowing streams that ended up in a large pool under his limp body.

Jack thought he must have seen the only look of shock on Optimus's face that he would ever see. Despite the Prime's clear concern, his voice didn't waver. "We should leave quickly. MECH may have set traps here."

Bulkhead rushed forward and ripped the metal bonds from the table, but it was Optimus who hefted the scout into his arms.

Another explosion rocked the base, this one not caused by any of the Autobots. It came from the cave entrance, sending plumes of dirt through the tunnels toward the group. The blasts continued, and soon the dust clouds were accompanied with increasingly larger chunks of rock. Optimus kept the Scout close to his chest, shielding him from further harm while Arcee did the same for Jack.

"Arcee, where is the entry point you used?" The Prime demanded over the noise of crumbling cave around them.

"Back here, but it's too small for anyone else."

The eruptions were getting closer. "Get yourself and Jack to safety. Bulkhead and I will make it larger."

"You don't have time to wait for us, just blow it now." Jack had to shout to be heard, and wasn't sure he had been until Optimus looked down at him in silence and then nodded.

"Bulkhead."

"Got it." The large green mech lumbered forward and armed his cannons, aiming for the patch of light near the cave ceiling about twice Optimus's height. Three rapid shots later, the dust cleared to reveal what was a huge hole to Jack, but barely large enough to fit Bulkhead's girth.

Without a word, Arcee snatched up her human and climbed for the exit. Jack had to hold on tight as the quakes continued with increasing intensity. Bulkhead was struggling up the cave wall just below them while Optimus waited silently at the bottom, still shielding his young scout to his chest as debris pelted him from behind.

Arcee set jack down on the level ground only feet away as soon as they cleared the cave. She immediately whirled around to try and help heave Bulk through the opening. It took precious moments for him to struggle through, but then he too turned, arms outstretched to grab his ailing friend from the Prime and pull him to safety.

The room was collapsing all around Optimus as he ascended, using only his free hand to climb as the other held onto Bumblebee. As soon as he was within reach, he lifted the lifeless scout over his head, where Bulkhead then grabbed his arms and dragged him through the opening.

Boulders were crashing down on the Prime now, impeding his progress. Arcee reached through and attempted to help, but Optimus was easily four times her own size. It wasn't until Bulkhead set down Bee and turned back to grab his commander's shoulders that the Prime managed to fight back the raining stone and clear the opening just as it collapsed into the earth.

Optimus staggered to his feet and glanced back at the imploding ground he'd barely escaped. He nodded once to Bulkhead and Arcee before turning to check on Bumblebee. The young bot was still unmoving, sprawled awkwardly in the lifeless heap Bulk had unfortunately had to toss him in in order to save Optimus.

Jack had run to the scout as soon as Bulkhead had left and searched for any sign of life in the bot, but could find none. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the dark optics, usually full of bright aqua light. He somehow felt at fault for this. There had to have been something he could have done- anything. He didn't know if he could face Raf, admitting that he had stood by and watched.

"Ratchet, we need a bridge." Optimus's booming voice directly above him made Jack jump as he was snapped from his thoughts. The Prime lowered himself to one knee, locking onto the human with his intense gaze. "Thank you, Jack."

The teen shook his head dejectedly. "For what? I didn't do anything."

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save us. It may have been all that gave Bumblebee and I enough time to escape."

Jack hadn't even thought of what he was doing at the time. It just seemed the most logical thing. He shrugged one shoulder in response.

"I do not doubt that it was not the only thing you did to attempt to save Bumblebee. For that, he probably owes you his life." Jack's look of shock at that statement did not escape the Prime. "Bumblebee is alive because of you." He clarified.

Relief flooded the human, but an intense sadness remained as his eyes wandered over the battered body of the scout. Arcee had a similar expression as she gazed down at her comrade, but she offered a small grateful smile to her human when their eyes met.

Jack knew Arcee and Bumblebee were close. If either of them were having an off day, you could count on the other being close by. Jack was almost positive that if it weren't for Arcee, Bumblebee wouldn't see half the action he did. The femme was the only one who asked him to join her on patrols and missions. She trusted him, something Arcee didn't take lightly. He vaguely recalled Arcee had once compared Bumblebee to something like her little brother. As Arcee's charge, Jack could relate to that.

The ground bridge was soon swirling in front of them and Optimus again gently lifted the scout into his arms. Arcee and Jack were right behind him with Bulkhead trudging slowly along in the last position. Jack wasn't around Bulkhead and Bumblebee as much as Arcee, and didn't know their relationship well, but from what he could tell, the two were close friends. Bulkhead often referred to him as "buddy" and their down time was mostly spent messing around together, playing Cybertronian adaptations of human games. Bulkhead was, despite all appearances, a relatively sensitive bot and had trouble hiding it sometimes. Jack was sure something like this had hit him hard.

As the interior of the Autobot base came into view, Jack felt apprehension start to well in his chest. Raf was there, anxiously waiting. He and Bumblebee had made a good match. They were fiercely protective of one another, and while both were about the nicest beings you could ever encounter, their thankfully rare bad sides were something you never wanted to experience. They were loyal and caring, beating out Bulkhead's own sensitivity by a mile. The youngest of their own races in their tiny group of friends, they were both often overlooked until they ended up providing some key backup that otherwise wouldn't have come. Their innocence and humility kept everyone else honest. Jack didn't know where the rest of them would be if not for the young pair.

As Optimus stepped out of the groundbridge, Raf and the waiting medic could only stare. Jack looked up at Arcee who quickly nodded in the other human's direction. Raf's eyes were following the Prime as he approached one of the medical berths and gingerly laid the lifeless scout onto it. As soon as Bulkhead was through, Ratchet shut the groundbridge down and hurried to the young bot's side. Optimus didn't move very far away, only leaving just enough space for the medic to work. Raf didn't notice Jack's arm on his shoulder at first, but then looked up into the face of the dark-haired teen, his own expression questioning.

"He'll be okay." Jack tried to assure him. "Just let Ratchet work on him for now."

"What happened?"

Jack hesitated. "Just…don't worry about it."

Probably because he was still in shock, the younger teen didn't push it.

* * *

><p>Jack sat on the walkway overlooking the medical bay. His legs dangled over the side as he set his chin on his folded arms which rested on the lower pipes of the railing. A warm soft hand on his back almost caused him to jump, but it only took a moment to recognize the touch of his mother. She lowered herself to sit next to him, gazing down at the motionless bot he'd been staring at for hours now.<p>

"Are you okayt?" She asked, her hand rubbing small circles on her son's back.

"How many times are you gonna ask me, Mom?" Jack sighed with a small smile, shifting to lay his head on his arms so he could look at her.

"Until I get a good answer, Jack."

He should have known. When he'd called his mom a few shorts hours ago to tell her why he wasn't home yet, she had sensed something was wrong as soon as the first words came out of his mouth. _"Jackson Darby, you tell me right now- Are you alright?"_ This particular question was in regards to his physical well-being, so she had been satisfied with his truthful answer that yes, he was fine. It was the subsequent inquiry as to whether or not he was _okay _that he lost the battle and June Darby was in her car and driving before anyone could lodge a protest.

On arriving at the base, she had immediately sensed Raf's distress and spent the next hour soothing the distraught child. He was currently asleep in the back seat of June's car, having exhausted himself with worry. A quick phone call to Raf's parents about the two boys having a sleepover that night had provided the cover Raf needed in order to stay at the base for at least 12 more hours.

Arcee had avoided June at all costs, clearly not wanting to be comforted in any way. She hadn't stopped pacing the back halls of the base since Ratchet had kicked her out for hovering two hours ago. Bulkhead was supposedly recharging in his own quarters. Whether or not he was actually resting was anybody's guess. Optimus had blatantly ignored any attempts to suggest he do likewise. In fact, he had been eerily silent since returning to the base. He usually wasn't a bot of many words, but this was different. He was currently watching Ratchet from a far corner, where he hadn't so much as shifted for over an hour.

Ratchet had done all he could for the scout within an hour of his arrival, but he continued to fuss over the young bot, even going as far as trying to buff out the scorch marks on his armor, all the while grumbling loudly about how foolish the scout had been and cursing the fact that Optimus trusted the incompetent little bot to do anything alone.

"Jackson?" his mother gently prodded.

"I don't know what you want me to say." Jack muttered, his voice muffled as he hid half his face in his sleeves.

"I want to know what you're feeling, Jack, so I can help."

Jack shifted his jaw, trying to fight the tightening in his chest. "I don't know…"

"Jack, if I haven't forbid you from coming back here yet, it's not going to happen. You can be honest with me."

"I watched him get tortured, Mom." Jack finally admitted, spitting the words out before they got caught in his throat. June's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't say anything, sensing her son wanted to keep talking. "I'm always telling Miko, this isn't a game, you know? These aren't giant toys. They're living beings with feelings and they're fighting a war- a war that we're now a part of. I didn't want to be at first, but… I mean, look around. These guys get hurt a lot, but they never act like this for anyone but him. You know why? By our standards, Bee is about my age. The rest of them had been fighting this war before he was even created, and there's this guy, who's the most optimistic thing I've ever seen. Even when I tried to use him for some stupid reason I'm not going to tell you about, he put himself out there to protect me. He's not my guardian, but it doesn't matter. I don't doubt that the rest of them would do the same thing too.

"So what am I feeling? I don't know… In a really amazing and horrible way, I know that these guys would sacrifice themselves to save me, and that makes them family. It's really ironic that Arcee ended up being my guardian because she didn't want to get close because her partners died and I don't like getting close because of Dad, and we still can't help the fact that we're family now. I guess I didn't realize until today that Bee and the rest of them… it's the same. I almost lost a brother I didn't even know I had until we were offering up our lives for each other. So I guess I'm completely terrified at the situation I'm in and at a loss for why I wouldn't have it any other way."

June was silent for a full minute as she mulled over the words that sounded far too mature to be coming from her 16-year-old son. "Did I ever tell you about the boy your age who came into the ER with a gunshot wound?" Jack slowly shook his head. "Police suspected he was part of a drug deal gone bad in a local gang. So here's this teenager, my son's age, shot in the chest, and I thought, I'm so glad that my son is smart enough to stay away from this kind of thing… Then I found out about this, and it scared the hell out of me." Jack looked up in surprise. His mother usually wasn't one to swear. "But I saw them with you, and you with them, and I realized… in 20 years, that kid is going to be on some prison release program, telling high school kids how he screwed up his life for no reason at all and how the people he thought were his family had abandoned him without a thought. You, though… my son wasn't going to have that problem. In 20 years, you're hopefully going to look back at this, and you're going to be able to say that you helped to preserve a peaceful race and possibly even our world and made bonds with these beings that will last forever. How could I not be proud of you for that? You were meant for big things, Jack, and have wisdom well beyond your years. I have complete faith in you. I just hope you appreciate that no mother in her right mind would possibly trust you as much as I do."

Jack allowed himself a smile. "That's why I'm so glad you're insane, Mom."

June grinned in return, her hand resuming its circular path along her son's back. She risked a glance at Ratchet who had been pretending not to listen, but quickly looked away when their eyes met. Jack hadn't been the only one who needed that story. June was no amateur. She had chosen her words carefully. She could tell they had at least some effect as Ratchet surveyed the young scout with a new expression, this one not so angry and bitter as it had been.

Jack noticed the change as well and gave his mother a knowing look. "Guess I wasn't the only one who needed a mom."

The medic whirled around, giving the young human a warning look.

"I meant Raf." Jack clarified innocently, though he couldn't help but chuckle along with June as the embarrassed Autobot turned back toward his charge.

June's smile faded somewhat as she locked eyes with her son again. "You okay?"

Jack nodded, and this time his mother finally believed him.

* * *

><p>AN: Don't think I'm going to leave it there... I won't. But what do you want to see next? Bee? MECH? I'm open to suggestions. I crave them in fact...along with reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I'm not really happy with it, but it's what I got. I'm still taking suggestions!

* * *

><p>"Arcee?"<p>

The femme paused in her pacing to glance down at her charge as he cautiously entered the hallway she had been pacing for so long she was sure she had worn a shiny path into the metal floor.

"Are you okay?" Jack went on when she didn't respond.

"Fine." She sighed, refusing to meet the human's eyes.

"Come on, Arcee, I was there."

"I should have killed him when I had the chance." Arcee spat suddenly. Apparently all she needed was some gentle prodding.

Jack was silent for a few seconds before he asked, "Why didn't you?"

Arcee hesitated. "I couldn't risk you getting caught in the cross-fire if they started shooting… besides… Bee wouldn't want me to." She could clearly remember the look Bumblebee had given her when he'd found her about to destroy Starscream. His wide, round optics had showed shock, disappointment…pleading. The innocent little bot knew almost nothing about revenge, except that it wasn't their way. Arcee doubted that Bee had ever had a real selfish, vengeful thought in his life. Even after Megatron had torn him apart, ripped out his vocalizer and left him as nothing but a humiliating warning to the Autobots, Bee had been more worried about those who had died in the same battle than about getting back at the Decepticon leader.

Her fists clenched as she thought about what the humans had done to the bot. Somehow it just made it worse that despite everything, Bee would most likely refuse to go after MECH out of revenge- to protect the others from future attacks, yes, but not because they had captured him. Not to say that Bee didn't ever attack out of anger. She had seen him do so in response to assaults on his friends, and the scout was quite the force to be reckoned with in those conditions. He was fiercely loyal without being vengeful. It was hard to picture those qualities working together, but it defined Bumblebee. Everything he did was to protect, not to destroy.

She had never understood how he could do it. The scout knew nothing but war, and yet he had the biggest spark of any bot she'd ever met. Which only made her even more angry at the men who had done this to him. Bee was the last being on earth who deserved something like this, and yet MECH hadn't cared in the least. They had tortured and kidnapped her little brothers…

Arcee stopped herself. Had she really just called them that? She had been on earth too long. Like Bumblebee, she had picked up on their vernacular. Yet…it sounded good to her. It fit. There was no way she was ever saying it out loud.

She looked down at the concerned face of her charge and got onto one knee. "Are _you_ okay?"

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "You know, my mom is dying to talk to you right now."

"I noticed…" Arcee said, attempting to hide her displeasure with that fact. "I thought she was a nurse, not a therapist."

Jack smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "She's a mom."

Arcee frowned, realizing that as a mom, June should have been chewing her out for putting her son in such a dangerous situation, not trying to console her. "Listen, Jack, I'm sorry I got you into this."

Jack scoffed. "It's not your fault. You told me to run. I was the idiot that thought I could do something."

"But you did. I saw what you did to try and help Bee, Jack. It was very brave of you. Stupid, but brave." She added with a small smile. "Besides, you stalled MECH long enough to get them away from Bee and you to allow me to get the drop on them. So you provided the perfect distraction. Otherwise, it would have been a lot harder to get to Bee and he could have been hurt in the process…Don't ever do it again."

Jack smirked. "Yes, ma'am."

_CRASH!_

Arcee and Jack both immediately looked toward the command center where the sound had come from. The femme started running, and burst into the room just in time to duck an energon blast streaking over her head. She looked over to find the source and froze in shock as she spotted Bumblebee sitting up on the medical berth, his weapons online and firing frantically. Optimus was on him a second later, pinning his arms above his head, rendering his weapons harmless to those in the room.

"Bumblebee!" The Prime snapped, locking optics with the panicked scout who stared back, wide-eyed and unmoving.

Slowly, the scout's weapons offlined, folding seamlessly back into the armor plates of his arms, but his eyes never left the Prime, neither did other part of him move. Apparently satisfied that the bot no longer posed a threat, Optimus released his arms, letting them slide gradually back to his sides. The base remained perfectly silent for a full minute, broken only by the sound of the scout's cooling systems attempting to prevent him from overheating.

Arcee could see Jack's mother huddled against the wall on the walkway where she had tried to avoid the wayward blasts. Raf was partially hidden behind the open door of June's car, looking completely and utterly horrified. Ratchet was just barely dragging himself to his feet, holding a hand over his shoulder while he kept a wary eye on yellow bot. Jack was already at Arcee's feet while Bulkhead was just emerging from his quarters. Both were taking in the state of the command center and quickly putting together what had happened.

Optimus was still crouched in front of the scout, his steadily softening gaze working to calm the confused bot. Hesitantly, Bumblebee's eyes left the Prime's and surveyed the damage he had caused, his expression becoming increasingly embarrassed until he spotted Ratchet, at which point he nearly lost it. A soft, low whirr escaped the bot's body, not forming any words, but clearly expressing an earnest apology.

Ratchet immediately dropped his hand from his aching shoulder. "It's alright, Bumblebee. I'm fine." The medic assured, forcing his normally gruff voice to take on a kinder tone.

Although grateful for Ratchet's restraint, the unnatural softness coming from the medic was unnerving to Arcee. She knew it was for Bumblebee's benefit, but it only emphasized that something had changed. It wasn't as though the scout hadn't been tortured before, but that had happened in a war zone at the hands of Decepticons, during a dangerous mission. Unknown to each other, the Autobots had made a promise to themselves that they would never let the young scout end up in that position ever again, but here he was. They never imagined they would have to protect the scout from anything but Decepticons, and that somehow made it worse.

Bumblebee had been on earth longer than any of the other bots, and had a strange fascination with the native species and was the Autobot's resident expert on them. He was inexplicably able to bond with the humans easily despite his limitations in communication. Arcee hadn't expected anything like this from the humans, and was quite certain Bee had never suspected the alien race he embraced would be capable of it.

"Are you alright, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked, drawing the scout's optics back to his own.

Through her scanners, Arcee could tell the young bot's EM pulse was rapid and his systems were overheated. Her own optics could see the way the usually agile scout was twitching involuntarily, uncomfortably shifting, and fighting to hide the pain that coursed through his body. Despite all that, Bumblebee nodded.

Optimus's frown deepened. The scout wasn't usually one for lying, but he was a soldier. Soldiers didn't have time to feel pain.

Fortunately it was Ratchet's job to hold them down regardless and he had a lot of experience doing so. The medic placed a hand on Optimus's shoulder, and without any more prompting, he stepped back, giving Ratchet room. Bumblebee immediately tensed as the Prime moved away, leaving him in full view of the medic. Arcee resisted the urge to go the scout and somehow comfort him. He needed Ratchet's help right now, not her overprotective tendencies.

"Bumblebee, I need to run some tests. Alright?" The medic said, only some of his former gruffness returning from the last time he had spoken.

Bumblebee glanced up at Optimus briefly before nodding, his eyes still wide, body tensed in apprehension.

Optimus figured it was better to give the doctor and patient some privacy and motioned for everyone to gather on the other side of the room. Just as Arcee was reluctantly turning to do so, another metallic crash sounded behind her. She spun around in time to catch the scout seemingly trying to scoot backward through the wall behind him as he stared up at the walkway where June was standing, stock still. A second later, Bumblebee stopped his frantic struggle and hid his face in his hand in embarrassment.

"It's okay, go." Ratchet assured the human, ushering her to join the others before turning back to the scout.

Arcee was silently fuming and simultaneously heart-broken as June hurriedly joined the group across the room.

"I'm sorry. What did I-?"

"You didn't do anything." Arcee snapped, not meaning to take it out on the woman, but unable to mask the anger coursing through her.

"Arcee…" Optimus started in a warning tone.

"He's scared of people, Optimus." The femme hissed, making sure her voice wouldn't carry to the pair in the medical bay. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep the youngest human from hearing and she picked up the barely audible gasp with a pang of guilt in her chest. She closed her optics briefly before looking down at the brown-haired boy whose wide eyes were focused on his guardian across the room. "I didn't mean it like that, Raf. I'm sure he was just startled."

"By a human." Raf said quietly.

None of them had a response.

It took Bumblebee a few minutes to get over his shame enough to extricate his head from his hands. Had he really just jumped at the sight of a human? Besides the fact that he was a 16 foot tall robot and could easily crush the fragile beings, the human had been Jack's mother. While her temper was definitely not something Bee wanted to be on the wrong end of, she was essentially harmless. And it wasn't even the first over-the-top reaction either. The scorch marks mottling the command center walls were proof of that. Why on earth had he reacted like that- as if by reflex?

_Because MECH just about ripped out your spark to use as a nice light fixture, that's why, _A voice said in his head. While not spoken by Megatron's invading mind, the voice was equally unwelcome. Bee was pretty sure it was named 'Reality'. It was the last thing he wanted to face and yet it kept rearing its ugly head despite his best efforts to ignore it.

"Bumblebee?"

The scout's head snapped up in surprise as he remembered the medic waiting to perform 'tests' on him. If they were anything like the tedious and painful diagnostics Ratchet liked to do on his vocal processor all the time, he wasn't going to enjoy this at all. Though if he was being honest, the worst part about it was that it made him remember that there was a reason he had to be checked. It never really bothered him anymore unless Ratchet brought out those slagging diagnostic tools. As the medic approached him with his med kit, Bee knew this was going to be about the same experience…

Five minutes later, Bumblebee was certain that if Ratchet's frown got any bigger, he would permanently deform his metal faceplates. Usually the medic's expression was completely passive during exams unless he was angrily berating the patient for whatever they did to need his help. While Bumblebee often teased the medic for his emotionless demeanor, he would have appreciated it about now.

He wasn't sure if Ratchet's reaction was because he was failing every test or something else. It could have been because of his absolutely pathetic condition. Bee was quickly discovering the source of every pain shooting through his circuits as Ratchet looked over the diagnostic report on the glowing green screen of the monitor. He was finding it hard to block out the memories of receiving each wound as he recognized them. He also couldn't hide the increasing uncontrollable tremors in his limbs as the exam went on. It was when Ratchet tried to get Bee to follow a light with his eyes that he knew he'd at least failed one test.

It was at that point that the medic stepped back and stood up. "I need you to be honest, Bumblebee. How are you feeling?"

The scout had been about to respond vocally, but decided against it as a painful jolt shot through his neck. /_Hurts./ _He admitted, shrugging as he looked at the floor.

"Think you can talk…well, you know?" Ratchet stumbled over his explanation, but Bee knew what he meant. He was just surprised the medic hadn't been more blunt about it. 'Think you can talk, or…whatever it is you do?' That would have been expected.

_/Don't really want to find out right now./_

"That bad? Where is it the worst?"

Bee would have scoffed if he could. Instead he just threw up his arms hopelessly.

"Everywhere, huh? I'll see what I can do." The medic reached for Bumblebee's arm, and had barely laid a servo on the yellow armor when the scout reflexively jerked his arm back, seeming to surprise even himself. "You okay?" Ratchet asked, his eye-ridges knit in concern.

Bumblebee wanted to say yes, but couldn't ignore the painful pounding of energon through his body brought on by a fear response. He tried to fight it back and managed to nod after a minute, offering his arm out to the medic, but Ratchet didn't take it.

"In a minute." He said as an explanation, waving him off. "Do you mind if Optimus is here when I tell you what I found?"

Bumblebee hesitated, but shook his head. He was sure Ratchet would tell the Prime anyways. He might as well hear what the medic said when he did.

As Ratchet signaled for Optimus to join them, Bumblebee risked a glance across the room. It was difficult to bring the small group into focus, but he could make out the tiny human shapes between the towering forms of Bulkhead and Optimus. And if he knew anything at all, the smaller form currently arguing with the Prime was Arcee. She was the only Autobot capable of standing up to Optimus aside from Ratchet. Their history was before Bumblebee's time, but he knew it was a long, battle-tested one. There wasn't a soldier Optimus trusted more, which is why he put up with her insubordination and even made her second in command.

He could only guess what she was arguing about now, but could tell that she had lost as Otpimus walked toward him without her. She _was _fiercely protective of Bumblebee. She probably wanted to know what was going on. And if he was right, she would be contacting him in three, two…

/Bee?/

He had been expecting it and he had still twitched at the voice suddenly sounding over his comm. /_Is Jack okay?/ _He responded quickly. He didn't want to give Arcee the chance to speak. He was frankly quite horrified at what she might say to him.

He could see her hesitate from across the room. /Yes, he's perfectly fine, but-./

_/Raf?/_

/He's worried about you./

A wave of dizziness came over the scout as he tried to focus on the femme, but she kept slipping out of his view. He shook his head and looked at the ground instead. /_Stay with him, please?/_

/Bee-./

_/Please?/_

/Alright. But we are talking after this./

Bumblebee nodded, certain Arcee wanted to chew him out for what Jack had gone through. Nothing against Jack, but he shouldn't have had to rely on the young human to protect him. That wasn't Jack's job. Bee should have been protecting _him._ He deserved all the scorn Arcee would bring his way. Although Arcee couldn't see the scout's nod, it did alert the medic to why Bumblebee hadn't been paying attention to him for the last minute.

"Tell Arcee to mind her own business." Ratchet's voice made him look up in surprise.

Apparently Arcee had heard him as she tossed a gesture in the medic's direction and moved back into the group. The familiar banter almost made Bumblebee smile, but then Optimus strode forward and reality reared its ugly head again. "Bumblebee." The Prime greeted.

Bee didn't look at him as he nodded in response. Ratchet had listed off his findings which the scout only half-listened to. He could read his own diagnostics.

"The fried sensory and motor circuits will repair themselves, but it will take time. I, unfortunately, can't do much to speed that along. I've already removed the unsalvageable sections, so motor and sensory function will be compromised for a time. Other than that, the repairs to the puncture wounds and damaged legs are complete, but will be fragile for a few days. Overall he just needs to take it easy and not push it… Did you hear me, Bumblebee?" Ratchet added when the scout kept his head down and said nothing in response.

_/Yes./ _Bee answered, the text graciously disguising what was a clipped response. Usually he hated the fact that he was unable to communicate emotion like he used to, but at time like this, it came in handy.

He could barely make out in the corner of his faulty vision as Ratchet turned to look at Optimus, optic-ridges furrowed in what could have been concern, but the medic would have identified as confusion.

"Bumblebee." Optimus said, and the normally comforting baritone caused him to tense, because it wasn't the list of, at most, frustrating injuries that had him on edge, it was what he knew was coming next- what he knew Optimus had to ask. "I need to know how MECH found you and how they managed to capture you."

There was a full minute of silence before Bumblebee attempted any response, and when he did, it was in the form of a data package sent only to Optimus. "Thank you." He said, surprised at the form of the information, but glad the scout had given it up so easily.

Bumblebee figured it was his best option. Get everything out in the open and the questions would stop. Though recalling the data and compiling it into a file for Optimus had been taxing enough, at least he wouldn't have to dwell on it like he would if he had to explain it all himself. The only regret he had in sending the information in such a manner was that it would expose what a total failure Bumblebee had been throughout the entire ordeal. He had been captured by a bunch of fragging humans for crying out loud. He'd allowed them to pick him apart, study him, experiment on him, and had given them who knows how much data about the Cybertronian race. But Bee was a scout-a good one. He'd learned every bit of information was vital, no matter how embarrassing it was to him.

Ratchet looked a little confused. He hadn't received the data and had clearly expected to. Optimus sensed his confusion and Bumblebee's abnormal detached behavior. "Ratchet, if you could excuse us."

The medic was a little shocked. Optimus never kept anything from him, and he was being asked to leave his own lab, but out of respect for his old friend, Ratchet left the Prime and reluctantly joined the anxiously awaiting group across the room.

"So?" Bulkhead asked expectantly.

"Privileged information, Bulkhead. You know that." The medic explained, his eyes fixed on his patient across the room.

"Ratchet." Arcee snapped.

The medic spared an angry glance at the femme. "He'll be fine, Arcee. No life-threatening injuries. No sustaining damage."

"So…can I talk to him at all?" Raf's timid voice asked, suddenly reminding Ratchet of the humans who were present.

"Optimus is debriefing him at the moment. We'll see if he's up to it after that. He really needs a good recharge, however." The medic actually felt a pang of sympathy for the small human who looked dejectedly at the floor, but he knew Raf would only be more upset if he went to talk to the scout and ended up startling Bumblebee like June had.

The hardened medic was slightly disgusted with himself for how much emotion he'd allowed to be associated with the humans, but the little fleshlings had inexplicably grown on him- especially the smallest of them. He was impressed by the young human's intelligence, and grateful for his gentle nature. There wasn't a better human companion for the scout, which was why he actually felt bad for keeping them apart. Bumblebee got along with most everyone he ever met, but he bonded closely with very few beings, and even fewer still existed. Arcee was one, Raf was another. The scout was a being the medic himself couldn't help but care for.

During the tail end of the Great War, Ratchet had fought alongside the young soldier in a few battles, even teaching him basic battle-field first aid. He hadn't associated with him much otherwise, but he always knew when the scout was around because of his big mouth which could invariably be heard echoing down any hallway to reach his lab. Thankfully he wasn't as obnoxious as the twins, but if it wasn't them causing trouble, it was usually the yellow bot.

Then Tyger Pax happened. Ratchet had been the first medic to see him after he was extracted and remained his attending physician until he was released- or more accurately, until he escaped- from the medical bay. The little bot, who was usually so engaging with everyone he met, had been incredibly reserved around the medic during his recovery and retained that quality even now. Ratchet usually loved silence, demanded it even, but it wasn't quite as satisfying as it used to be- not around Bumblebee at least.

* * *

><p>AN: Meh... I go deeper into Bee's mindset later, which explains why he's being so totally psychotic, but you get this for now. :D I'm still taking suggestions! Jack is going to get a lot more from his POV, because really, it's his name listed with Bee on that info bar, and I know Raf needs his time, and I keep shoving him off for a reason... I'll get there. But besides him... any requests? And as always, I welcome reviews. Thanks for all the ones I've already gotten! They make my day. I love to hear from you.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I finally updated! Boo for lack of motivation! Well let's see what we got here... Some Optimus, a little Raf with a touch of Jack and then some Ratchet. And if that's insanely boring for you, in the next chapter, we get some more excitement! If there are typos, let me know. I found a wayward quotation mark and don't know where his original home was... ff's editor hates me.

* * *

><p>_Optimus_?/

The Prime had barely finished studying the scout's data package and had been standing silently for a few minutes, making the yellow mech increasingly self-conscious. "Yes, Bumblebee?"

The scout fidgeted uncomfortably, and not entirely because of his injuries. He kept his gaze on the floor as he finally sent the message he'd deleted and altered for 30 seconds before just sending the thing. /_I'm sorry_./

Optimus's eye ridges drew together as he surveyed the bot sitting in front of him. "What do you have to apologize for, Bumblebee?"

The scout was silent for another minute. /_I got caught._/ He answered simply.

The Prime turned away from him briefly, optics finding Jack as he comforted Raf in a far corner. Ratchet had commented to Optimus that the black-haired teen reminded him of how the Prime used to be. The blue and red mech only hoped Jack was able to stay that way and not become what he had in his later years. He had had the same hope for Bumblebee, but every time something like this happened, that hope became less and less of a possibility. Even bots had their breaking points, and though the young mech had never shown signs of reaching one, it had to exist, and he had to be close.

"Bumblebee, look at me." Optimus said as he turned back to the hunched-over scout.

The yellow mech gradually lifted his optics as they shifted in and out of focus and fought to keep the larger bot's faceplates in view.

Such a sight was painful for the Prime to watch, but he stood, ever stoic, and returned the youngling's unfocused gaze. "There is no shame in your actions. I am proud of what you accomplished."

Bumblebee looked shocked at this, as though he had been expecting to be chastised for what had happened.

Optimus could see his confusion and continued. "Your report clearly shows that only your desire to not harm the humans led to your capture. Your trust of the species was all that allowed them to get as close to you as they did, allowing them to spring their trap." Bumblebee winced, as if the words had been a slap to the face, and Optimus could only guess why. While not quite as naïve as he had once been, Bumblebee still put himself at risk without realizing it from time to time, and he could have been embarrassed by how it had turned out. It was also possible Bumblebee was simply hurt by the human's betrayal.

The Prime had never seen the scout's trust of humans as something to be ashamed of as the other bots once had, and he sincerely hoped it was not a quality the young mech would lose- used with more caution, perhaps, but not lost completely. "I am confident that this will do nothing to mar your opinion of other humans. And I do hope that it will not affect your opinion of yourself. Your actions were commendable."

Bumblebee's gaze fell to the floor again as his door wings sagged. A sudden jolt through his body caused the scout to tense in obvious pain, but it wasn't the only distressed expression on his faceplates.

"Are you alright?" Optimus asked. Bumblebee nodded quickly, and while the Prime by no means believed him, he figured that battle was better fought when his scout was rested and the events were not so fresh in his mind. "Rest for now. We will continue this later."

He watched as Bumblebee unsteadily lowered himself back to the berth and entered recharge, refusing to meet the Prime's optics again.

Optimus studied the unconscious mech's mutilated body for a brief moment and then turned away to leave, only to be immediately accosted by Arcee.

"How is he?"

"As Ratchet probably explained to you, he will heal."

Arcee was just as unsatisfied when the Prime said it. "You know that's not what I mean."

Optimus looked down at her with a sympathetic expression. "I can honestly say that I do not know how he is feeling. I did not wish to push him to reveal such information either."

Arcee vented a sigh and let her optics scan the unmoving yellow mech. She finally ripped her gaze away and straightened up, looking like the hardened femme she usually did. "What are we going to do about MECH?"

The Prime squared his shoulders and recalled the data Bumblebee had sent him. "It seems as though MECH managed to lure Bumblebee in while he was on patrol with the combination of an energon signature and a staged motor vehicle crash. Along with the questions asked during Bumblebee's interrogation, I believe we can assume that though they do not know our exact location, they are aware that we are in the area."

Arcee had assumed that Bee had been tortured for information. Jack had told her as much. It was the revelation of how they had managed to capture him that really set her off. "So they set up an accident because they knew we would want to help people, and they used that against him?"

Optimus could see a familiar anger building in the femme. If he didn't stop her now, he'd lose another soldier, not through injuries, but through her unpredictability. "Their weapons have improved greatly, Arcee. It seems as though studying Breakdown has given them the technology they needed to find a way to bring down a Cybertronian with ease. If we are to fight against them, we need time and planning. I will require your assistance with Bumblebee as well, in making sure that he recovers."

"You want him to fight with us?" Arcee asked in surprise. If she had been in Bee's position, Optimus would have flat out refused to consider bringing her, but that was the difference between them. She would do it for revenge, Bee wouldn't.

"If he so chooses." Optimus responded in a clipped tone she'd rarely heard used by the Prime. If she didn't know any better, she'd think the infallible leader of the Autobots had intentions closer to the femme than he would ever admit.

Arcee nodded.

* * *

><p>The humans had left hours ago, needing sleep and time alone. Raf had only managed the latter by convincing his mother to let him stay with the Darbys throughout the day and until dinner. At his own home, it would have been impossible to get time alone and his mother didn't approve of sleeping during the day when there were chores to be done.<p>

Raf had writhed in the guest bed for at least an hour, exhausted and yet unable to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about his guardian. With the exception of Ratchet, Raf had seen each Autobot in pretty horrible condition on several occasions, but remarkably, he'd only seen his guardian fall once, and that was to scraplets, not an enemy faction. Even when he was under Megatron's control, the scout hadn't been injured.

Even so, it wasn't the physical state of Bumblebee that was eating at him. Arcee's angry words kept running through his mind. _"He's scared of people, Optimus!" _He was scared of people… Arcee had tried to take it back, but he'd seen the way Bee had freaked out when June had stood from her hiding place, seemingly popping into the scout's vision from out of nowhere. Ratchet had kept him from talking to his guardian. Was it because he was afraid Raf would have the same effect? It was crazy. Bee was his best friend. There was no way…

The only thing that got Raf to sleep was remembering Bulkhead's parting words. _"Bee's a tough kid. He'll bounce back before you know it."_ He sure hoped the wrecker was right.

* * *

><p>"Raf?" Jack called softly as he pushed open the guest bedroom door. He smirked as he spotted the younger teen, typing away on his lap top as he sat on the bed. "Did you get any sleep at all?" Jack asked.<p>

Raf looked up in surprise. "Yeah! I just woke up a couple minutes ago."

-And he was already entrenched in his computer. _Impressive_, thought Jack. "Well my mom went out to get a pizza for a kind of early dinner thing. You hungry?"

A rumble from his achingly empty stomach was reply enough. "Uh, yeah, I guess so." Raf admitted with a small smile. "Hey…did you hear anything else?"

Jack shrugged. "Arcee says he's still out, and should be for a while." Raf sighed and looked dejectedly at his sheets. Jack bit his lip and continued. "Also, Miko texted me about how boring her vacation is."

"Did you tell her about-…?"

"No, no." Jack shook his head. "I didn't want her to give any more grief to her poor host parents. She's already tried to bribe them to let her take a bus home."

"From Hawaii?"

"Can't say she thought it through." Jack grinned, and caught a smirk forming on his young friend's face. "You okay?" He asked thoughtfully. Raf gave a noncommittal shrug, casting his eyes around the room. "You heard Ratchet. He's going to be fine."

"You saw him though, right? Your mom freaked him out, and Arcee said-."

"Arcee didn't mean that." Jack cut in. His guardian had been sending him messages periodically, updating him on events at the base, but she also asked about Raf, hoping she hadn't scared him. "Look, she promised as soon as Bee is cleared, we can go back and see him." Jack didn't get the reaction he had expected. Raf looked nervous, not relieved. "What?... Raf, you know Bumblebee. He's not going to let one stupid group of humans affect his relationship with you."

"Did you see how embarrassed he was? It's like he can't help it. I don't want to stress him out more…"

"I think you can only help him, Raf. He wasn't afraid of me when he saw me at MECH's base. I think what happened with my mom was just a one-time thing because he wasn't expecting it."

"Then maybe you should talk to him."

"I'm going to. But you know I need a translator." Jack added with a raised eyebrow. Raf sighed in defeat. "He wants to see you, Raf. Arcee says he asked about you."

Raf sighed. "Fine… it's not that I don't want to see him…I just don't want to make it worse."

"Like I said…you can only help.

* * *

><p>"Bumblebee, what are you doing?" The ancient medic snapped, resisting the urge to force the struggling and stumbling-but for the moment- upright yellow bot back onto the medical berth.<p>

The scout looked up with wide-eyes for a brief moment, and either because he couldn't focus or didn't want to hold Ratchet's gaze, he shifted his optics to the wall beside him and subsequently used the same wall for support as he grasped at it with a shaking servo. /_I just wanted to get up for a minute. Is that okay?/_

As the response was written text, it was hard for the medic to tell if Bumblebee was being sarcastic or not- not that it mattered, because his response would still be the same. "No, Bumblebee. I told you, your motor control is severely compromised. The repairs to your legs are barely taking hold, and since your sensory functions are also malfunctioning, I can't say whether or not you'd be able to tell if they're failing."

/_A 'no' would have been enough, Ratch./ _ Came the scout's reply as he pushed off the wall and managed to maintain a precarious balance as he stood on his own.

"Really? Because I told you to stay down for at least a few more days, and obviously that wasn't enough to get through to you."

Bumblebee threw up his arms in surrender and heavily collapsed back onto the berth, where he sat, staring longingly toward the base entrance.

The medic felt a rare, and very fleeting moment of sympathy for the youngling before he shoved it away. "Two days is all I'm asking. You get up any earlier and you're risking an extra few weeks of repair time." A slow nod was his response. "Sitting is fine. I catch you on your feet and I put you in stasis. Understand?" A thumbs-up was his response. Ratchet chose not to comment on the fact that it took the scout a full thirty seconds and two other fingers in order to get to that point.

/_So what am I supposed to do?... Don't say recharge./_

The medic shut his mouth half-way through forming that very word. "Well…" There was a minute when Ratchet had to battle with himself over protocol and the welfare of his patient. It definitely didn't help that this particular patient was the rambunctious scout who had somehow managed to whittle away at the impenetrable, armored plating of his old spark. Ratchet had already had to suppress the urge to give the youngling any special treatment several times since he'd awoken. The medic was proud of the fact that he had kept up his front, but disappointed that he had to put one up at all.

After much internal debate, Ratchet finally reached his decision, already armed with several excuses as to why his choice was medically warranted. "Alright, listen. Just this once, if you promise to keep your chassis in contact with that berth at all times, I will allow you to use the monitor to …" Ratchet almost had to manually force his faceplates to form his next words, "to watch…things, or play whatever."

Bumblebee looked thoroughly confused at first, but his expression slowly morphed until he was beaming at the old medic.

Ratchet was already regretting it… "Promise me, Bumblebee." He was answered with an enthusiastic nod. "Good… Have at it then. I'll be …over there." He grumbled, leaving the medical bay quickly as he avoided the large optics of the mech who had shown a sign of happiness for the first time since returning to the base.

"What did you do?" Came the slightly accusing, but mostly amused voice of the resident femme.

Ratchet froze. "What? Nothing."

"You went soft on him, didn't you?" Arcee asked with a raised eye-ridge.

He scoffed. "I did not. I can't risk him getting up and he won't offline, so this was my only viable option."

"Besides forcing him to recharge, of course, which is what you've done to every non-compliant bot since the war began." Arcee countered.

"Is it wise to be using the control board for such purposes, Ratchet?" Optimus asked as he entered the main base and spotted Bee fixated on the glowing screen in front of him.

The medic had to fight a roll of his optics. "He was trying to walk around. I had to keep him occupied somehow."

"So you believe that this is the best option to ensure his recovery?" The Prime asked, and Ratchet couldn't help but detect the light-hearted tone starting to emerge in his old friend's voice.

"At the moment, yes." He grumbled, and if bots could have blushed, he would have.

Arcee suddenly frowned. "I'd love to agree with you, Ratch, but I think you might be wrong in this case."

"What do you mean, Arcee?" Optimuse asked, all traces of humor gone from his tone.

"I mean, while I think it's great for Bee to relax right now, you can't keep him occupied forever. We can't let him keep himself occupied."

"What are you talking about, that's exactly what he needs." The medic scoffed.

"No, Ratchet, it's not." The femme snapped, turning to face the white and orange bot. "Because keeping him occupied is keeping him from facing what happened. You don't get it. This is what he does, this is how he avoids things. He keeps busy- doing mundane things like that, or usually by getting involved in something worse- something dangerous. I don't want a repeat of last time."

"What happened last time, Arcee?" Optimus asked patiently.

She turned to face the Prime and then looked back at the scout struggling to focus on the screen above him. "He came here."

* * *

><p>An: Well there ya go! I hope I'm getting enough POVs in that people want to see. I'm still open for more scenes you want to see! Let me know. Leave a comment!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Alright then, after much prompting and pleading from wonderful readers who I neglected, I am finally updating. Now that Prime is back on- so am I. Figures that tonight's ep related so closely to my own fic. Ah well, it's here now. Pardon me as I get back into the swing of things, including characterization which I'm not happy with- I got rolling near the end though. So consider this a gift to tide you over until the real stuff begins.

* * *

><p>"Wait, Arcee." Bulkhead lumbered along after the femme as she hurried along the hallways of the base. "Do you really think it's a good idea?"<p>

"I promised them, Bulk. I don't see a problem with it." Arcee shrugged.

"But you said-."

"I know what I said." Arcee snapped, suddenly whirling on the wrecker. She almost immediately softened and looked away. "Look, you know I would never put Bee in a position I didn't think he could handle, don't you?"

Bulk nodded. "None of us would."

"Exactly." Arcee paused, surveying his doubtful expression. Of course by that he meant that if he didn't think it was a good idea, he wouldn't let Arcee go through with it either. Bulk didn't usually put up much of a fight to proposed plans unless he felt someone was liable to get hurt who shouldn't be. Not a bad quality, but sometimes he could be a little over protective. "Optimus thinks it's a good idea."

Bulkhead winced. He didn't have much of an argument against that. "What are you two planning?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

"What?" Arcee asked, confused. Bulk was highly trusting and not much for questions, and right now he was defying both of those rules.

"If it involves going after MECH, you know I want in on it." There was the Bulk she knew, ready to bust up 'cons and itching for a fight.

Arcee smirked. "You know I'd tell you if it did. Wouldn't get very far without you."

"What about Bee then?" She spotted the wrecker looking over her shoulder and turned to see that the scout was visible through the door behind her. He was still sitting on the berth as he had been ordered to, and looked like he was watching something on the monitor Ratchet had caved into letting him commandeer.

"We just want him to get better, Bulk." She said, turning back to him.

"And you think letting the kids come is going to help?"

"Of course it will. You know how much Bee loves Raf, and how worried he was about Jack getting captured. Seeing them can only help."

"Except if it doesn't." Bulk muttered, clearly thinking about how Bee had nearly lost it at the sudden appearance of Jack's mother.

Arcee studied her sullen friend. She knew he'd been missing Miko, even though she had been gone for only a week. Bulk and Bee were good friends, and of course Bulk was protective by nature, but it seemed he might have been overcompensating for his absent charge by becoming Bee's guardian. "What's up with you lately?"

Bulkhead squared up in front of her. There was an edge to his voice when he spoke. "I think you're pushing him and you should leave him alone."

Arcee frowned and felt a little defensive herself. "Listen, I've talked with Ratchet and Optimus and they agree with me. We can't let him sit around and pretend it didn't happen."

"Did you talk to _him_?" Bulk asked, pointing a servo in the direction of the scout.

"Have _you_ talked to him?" Arcee shot back. "He's not exactly in a chatty mood."

"Which is exactly why you should leave him alone-."

"Which is exactly why we _can't!"_ Arcee and Bulkhead stared, fuming at each other for a full minute in silence. Arcee got control of herself first and tried to lower the intensity of her expression. "He's your friend, Bulk. I understand it looks harsh, but this is what he needs."

The wrecker scoffed. "And who made you the authority on that? Optimus?"

"How about being at the battle of Tyger Pax and watching how everyone coddled him then? The first chance he got he ran away and volunteered for this mission- to come here, alone."

"And he was fine before this, wasn't he?" Bulk growled.

"After he spent a few earth years on his own, sure. He worked through it by the time we got here, but you don't understand how good Bee is at burying things. He may be fine, because he's convinced himself he is, and it will never come up again, and he'll go on being the happy scout, but it _will_ slowly eat at him. You didn't see him in sick bay on Cybertron. I know what he was like. You want him to spend a few more years quietly dealing with what happened or do you want him to be okay now?"

"You can't just _make_ him okay, Arcee. He needs time. No one can know how much except for Bee. Let him do this on his own. Pushing him is just going to make it worse."

"You don't know that."

Bulk was glaring at her, his blue optics like ice as he stared down at her. "You realize what a hypocrite you are? You pushed everyone away after Tailgate and Cliffjumper and you never talked about it. You blow a circuit every time we try to get you to open up. Backing off is all we could do and you got over it on your own."

"Well, maybe I wish you had pushed me, okay? Skirting around the issue and being afraid to confront me about it is exactly what I wanted from you. That doesn't make me okay. The only one who ever dared get in my face about it was Bee. So don't tell me he doesn't want this. He knows." Arcee gave him a parting glare before she turned and entered the command center.

She looked over as she passed by the medical area and watched as Bee stared up at the screen, not even noticing her. She stopped and turned back around to see what he was looking at on the monitor. It wasn't a cartoon…or even a video game. It was a grainy, damaged recording. It took a minute for her to realize what it was. The recording seemed to be taken from Bee's point of view as he drove through the desert, and came upon a turned over car and a few humans standing near.

Something sparked in Arcee's memory. Car accident, energon signature… this was how MECH had lured Bee into their trap. Arcee's mouth fell open as she watched the humans become aware of Bee's approach. He was obviously still in his alt mode, speeding along, but as he got closer, the humans suddenly transformed from traumatized victims of a car accident into MECH soldiers holding dangerous and foreign looking weapons. A second later, the screen went black, then it rewound and played again…and again…

"Bee, what are you doing?"

Bumblebee jumped, his spark going into overdrive as he was startled from his reverie. His eyes betrayed a sudden flair of pain as he turned to see Arcee watching him. He fought it back and instead assumed a deer-in-the-headlights expression, unsure of what to say. _"J-Just wat-watching s-s-something."_ He offered in hesitant beeps.

Arcee walked closer, noticing how Bee seemed to unconsciously shrink under her gaze. "Why are you watching _this_ in particular?"

The scout looked up at her in silence for a few seconds. _"I thought…m-maybe I could f-find something to help. Maybe there's s-something I could have done or no-noticed so this w-wouldn't have happened."_

Arcee frowned as she watched the scout's involuntary twitches and his seeming lack of control over even his form of communication. "Bee, they played a dirty trick anyone would have fallen for. From what I can see, there isn't anything you could have done differently." If possible, Bee's face fell even more. "What?"

"_Then how-how are you all s-supposed to avoid it?"_ He beeped earnestly.

Arcee couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face. Of course that was Bee's primary concern. "We'll be careful, Bee, don't worry about us."

Bee's head dropped as he glanced at his shaking hands. "_You wouldn't fall-fall for it anyways… I'm th-the idiot who tru-trusted the humans." _

_Trusted?_ "Hey," Arcee moved in front of the youngling, stepping even closer. At least he didn't flinch this time. "Trusting them is not a weakness, or stupid. If not for your relationships with the humans, who knows where we'd be right now. We certainly wouldn't have government support. You know that."

Bumblebee couldn't hold her gaze and looked away, not saying anything.

Arcee frowned again. "I told Raf and Jack they could come around and see how you were doing. You want me to tell them it's not a good time?" Bee's head snapped up as he looked at Arcee, his eyes showing the conflict raging inside him. "Well?"

Bee quickly shook his head.

"You want them to come then?" Arcee asked, her hands on her hips as she stared down at the scout in a posture reminiscent of June Darby.

Bee nodded.

"Good. They'll be here isoon. Ratchet's ground-bridging them in."

/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Raf and Jack stepped through the ground bridge in the Darby's garage and emerged into the spacious silo that was the Autobot's base of operations.

"Hurry up there, Rafael." Ratchet urged as he spotted the human youngling taking his sweet time. Arcee shot him a look that he ignored. The old medic was quickly making up for his soft moments following the return of Bumblebee after being captured by MECH. In fact, since that morning, he'd been overcompensating, snapping needlessly at the other bots. He'd even been harsh toward Bumblebee that morning when then anxious and restless scout again grew tired of sitting and started incessantly bugging the medic in hopes that Ratchet would cave and allow Bee to get up just so he would go away and leave the medic alone.

It was a good plan that failed horribly, though Bee continued sporadically testing his limits every few hours. Optimus had been the only thing standing between Bee and stasis all day. Ratchet only had to throw the youngling a pointed look to let him know that as soon as the Prime turned his back, the option was back on the table. The medic guessed he should have been happier that Bee was showing signs of his old self- being the antsy and often annoying bot he was. The problem was the old Bee came out in fleeting moments interrupted by long periods of melancholy silence. Ratchet's sullen attitude had actually served to lengthen the amount of time the scout seemed almost normal, so 'screw' kindness- so to speak. If it helped, Ratchet would forever be the cranky medic with the horrible bedside manner.

Ratchet was finally able to shut the ground bridge down as the human teens stepped far enough into the base. Raf still seemed hesitant and smaller than usual- reminiscent of his early days with the bots when his self-confidence had been through the floor and he rarely spoke to anyone but Bumblebee.

"How's he doing?" Jack asked the medic, tilting his head back to see the bot's face.

Ratchet shrugged a giant shoulder noncommittally . "His wounds are healing nicely for the most part."

Jack didn't press him any further. He could read the medic's short temper as well as Arcee.

Raf had taken a few steps toward the med bay and stopped, looking back over his shoulder. "Is it okay-?"

Ratchet's hardened façade faded slightly as he nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead. He should be awake."

Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, Raf continued on, his steps only faltering when his guardian came into view, reclining against the wall as he sat on the berth. Raf hesitated when he noticed Bee's optics were dark. He looked over his shoulder again. Jack was hanging back, supposedly giving him time alone with Bee. He wasn't quite sure he wanted it just yet… Raf vigorously shook his head. Of course he did! Bee was his guardian. He would never hurt him… the question was, would Raf somehow hurt the scout?

"B-Bee?" Raf stuttered, his voice quiet. The Autobot didn't stir. Raf silently scolded himself. He remembered hearing that Bee's senses had been compromised- hearing being one of them. "Bee?" He called a little louder.

The blue-green optics flickered and finally came to life before they shifted in their sockets, taking in his surroundings. They finally landed on Raf who was holding his breath. The scout froze for a split second, and then his infinitely expressive eyes softened, indicating an unmistakable smile.

Raf grinned back in relief. "Hey, Bee. How's it going?"

The scout beamed at him and struggled fruitlessly to give a thumb's up sign with his uncooperative fingers. He patted the berth next him and held out a tiny controller and motioned to the monitor in front of him.

Raf laughed. "No way! Sweet!"

Jack and Arcee watched from across the room as Raf hopped up onto the berth and took the controller from Bee's hand. "Looks like he's doing okay." Jack commented with an amused smile.

"Of course he does." Arcee grumbled.

Jack looked confused as he stared up at the femme. "What is it?"

Arcee cycled her vents for a brief moment. "Bee's good at pretending everything is okay. It's hard to tell the difference."

The scout's beeping suddenly echoed through the base and Jack watched Arcee and Ratchet's faces twist into unreadable expressions.

"What?" Jack asked again. He always felt so out of the loop when Bee was talking. The bots were so used to it, they hardly ever translated.

"Oh, right." Arcee shook her head, suddenly seeming to remember the fact that Jack couldn't understand the scout. "He's just talking to Raf about the game, but his…voice…" She winced, not sure what else to call it, "He's stuttering a lot. Can't form sentences well."

"It's more of a problem when he's excited or agitated." Ratchet explained as his medical expertise got the best of him and he continued speaking without realizing it. "Just another symptom of his injuries. Hopefully that too will resolve itself with time."

"What else is wrong with him, exactly?" Jack asked, figuring it was safe to ask since the medic had brought it up.

Ratchet rolled his optics. "It is difficult to relay such things to a human. I guess I could relate it to your nervous systems. We too have a sort of nerve network which relays signals, sensory and motor to a central processor- like the brain. Extensive electric interference from MECH has damaged Bee's "nerves" as it were. Such things are notoriously slow at healing if they heal at all… which I'm confident Bumblebee's will." He added, seemingly as an afterthought as he caught Arcee's expression.

"He's having trouble with certain senses." Arcee went on, looking across the room as Bee seemed to get frustrated with the game and merely stared at the screen. "His vision is compromised, but that's already becoming a rarer occurrence. The worst part is that healing circuits generate a lot of pain. It's about the sensory feeling he has right now. The real problem is coordination. The signals are so messed up, they can't work together, and his motor skills are completely shot."

"How long will it take for him to get better then?" Jack asked, watching as Raf quickly caught on to Bee's lack of motor control and the monitor instead lit up with a TV show as he set the controllers aside.

"Best bet," Ratchet shrugged, "Maybe a week until he's well enough to function on his own. Complete restoration of the circuits will take much longer- how long I don't know. I also can't tell which functions will be compromised until he starts healing. I can cautiously say it looks promising so far."

Jack fought back a shudder. He had no idea the bots could be injured like that. He knew Bee had been hurt bad- but as it turned out, the gaping wounds and extensive burn marks which had looked so serious were the least of the scout's problems. It was what he couldn't see that would leave lasting damage- physically and emotionally. "What about MECH?"

Arcee's expression immediately darkened as Ratchet wandered away to work on some gadget. "Optimus and Bulkhead are out scouting right now, hopefully to get a better idea of where they're hiding out."

"You're going after them?"

"Have to." Arcee said. "They were too close. We can't risk them finding out where we are. We're almost positive they didn't get anything from Bee, but we can't be sure of that either. Our best bet is a preemptive strike."

"When?"

Arcee hesitated. "I don't know. Sooner the better, but Optimus has it in his head that Bee should have the option of going."

"What?" Jack squawked. "Why?"

Arcee shrugged hopelessly. "You know how I said Bee was good at hiding things? Well, the most revealing test and possible cure would be to bring him and let him have a go at MECH. It's tough medicine, but I can tell you, it's effective. Obviously, we don't want to do that until we're sure Bee can handle himself physically, and we'd be protecting him, but the truth is, we could also use him. He's a scrappy fighter. MECH is a tough opponent. We want to be at full strength."

"Have you told Bee yet?" Jack asked quietly. He could see how torn Arcee was about the whole thing. She cared deeply for the scout, and hated to see him in pain, but it seemed the only way to help was just to possibly cause even more.

"No… Optimus wants to wait until we know what we're going to do with MECH- see how much Bee progresses until then."

"You don't like it…" Jack said, easily reading Arcee's expression.

She smirked and shook her head. "No, I understand it. I'd like to take MECH out as soon as possible, but he needs the option of coming if he wants. We won't force him, but we can't turn him down if he wants to go. Like I said, we need him in a fight. If anything it will give him closure, and sometimes that's all you need."

"You're worried about him though." It wasn't a question.

Arcee was silent for a few seconds. "As much as Bee likes to talk- or liked to talk- you can never quite know what's going on in his head. I want him to be okay, but I don't want to make it worse…" She muttered, her mind going back to her conversation with Bulkhead who was also unaware of their plans to invite Bee along for the raid. She had sounded so confident then…but she wasn't.

"I wish I could help…"

Arcee smiled down at her charge. "As a matter of fact, you can. Bee's got it in his head that we blame him for you getting caught when in reality it was entirely your fault." She said teasingly. "Go say hi and put his mind at ease."

Jack chuckled to himself. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going."

* * *

><p>AN: I hope that was okay for how long you all waited...if you're still out there. You can leave a comment in a review to let me know how much you loath my procrastination skills. If you just found this, pretend I'm a consistent updater and drop a review! I'd love to hear from all of you and see what you think. Thanks for reading!


End file.
